Private Space Technology Powers Up

Photo: Rocket science: Franklin Chang Diaz (top) is a former NASA astronaut and founder of Ad Astra Rocket Company. The company has developed a prototype plasma rocket, the VX-200 (bottom), that recently achieved 201 kilowatts of power.
Credit: José Díaz, La Nación (top); Ad Astra Rocket Company (bottom)

From Technology Review:

Former astronaut Franklin Chang Diaz says the private sector can help NASA, and reckons he has the rocket to prove it.

In the coming weeks the Obama administration will decide the future of U.S. human spaceflight. A summary report by the committee tasked with reviewing NASA's current plans and providing recommendations suggests utilizing the commercial sector for unmanned, and perhaps manned, missions as a way to reduce government costs. Franklin Chang Diaz, a former NASA astronaut and founder and president of Ad Astra Rocket Company, agrees.

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DNA Sequencing In A Holey New Way

DNA molecules will be held in place by tiny voltages within the nanohole

From The BBC:

IBM will announce on Tuesday how it intends to hold DNA molecules in tiny holes in silicon in an effort to decode their genetic secrets letter by letter.

Their microelectronic approach solves one of two long-standing problems in "nanopore" DNA sequencing: how to stop it flying through too quickly.

The aim is to speed up DNA sequencing in a push toward personalised medicine.

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Do Dust Particles Curb Climate Change?

Every cloud is different from the next. It is therefore important to study the types of cloud systems in which aerosols have the greatest influence. (Credit: Max Planck Institute for Meteorology / Stevens)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Oct. 7, 2009) — A knowledge gap exists in the area of climate research: for decades, scientists have been asking themselves whether, and to what extent man-made aerosols, that is, dust particles suspended in the atmosphere, enlarge the cloud cover and thus curb climate warming. Research has made little or no progress on this issue.

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Underground City Envisioned In Nevada

This illustration depicts how urban life would be among the water bank canals of an underground city. Credit: Andrew Kudless (Design), Nenad Katic (Visualization), Tan Nguyen, Pia-Jacqlyn Malinis, Jafe Meltesen-Lee, Benjamin Barragan (Model), Matsys Designs

From Live Science:

Sietch Nevada is a fascinating concept exhibited in Innovative Technologies and Climates at the University of Toronto. Fans of the science fiction novel Dune will immediately recognize this proposal - to build semi-subterranean terraced geometries in the Nevada desert.

"In Frank Herbert’s famous 1965 novel Dune, he describes a planet that has undergone nearly complete desertification. Dune has been called the “first planetary ecology novel” and forecasts a dystopian world without water. The few remaining inhabitants have secluded themselves from their harsh environment in what could be called subterranean oasises.

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Astronomers Discover Solar System's Largest Planetary Ring Yet Around Saturn

RING LEADER: An artist's conception of the faint, newfound ring around Saturn. The ring dwarfs the scale of the familiar system of rings closer to the planet. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Keck

From Scientific American:

A diffuse, newfound ring encircles the gas giant planet at an extraordinary distance.

A speculative search for a belt of debris stemming from one of Saturn's outer moons has turned up what appears to be the largest known planetary ring in the solar system.

The newfound ring, associated with the far-flung moon Phoebe, stretches to roughly 12.5 million kilometers from Saturn, if not more, according to a paper announcing the finding in this week's Nature. (Scientific American is part of the Nature Publishing Group.) For comparison, the outer bound of Saturn's next largest known ring, the E ring, is less than half a million kilometers from the planet.

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Anatomy Of A Dying Star

White Dwarf
A simulation of a star's final hours may help scientists uncover what triggers its death. The program simulated the death of a white dwarf (pictured above), which is a compact remnant of a star similar to our sun. H. Bond (STScI)/R. Ciardullo (PSU)/WFPC2/HST/NASA

From Discovery Magazine:

A computer program that simulates the final hours of a star's life has been developed by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California and Stony Brook University in New York.

The scientists designed the simulation hoping to uncover what actually triggers a star's death.

For decades, scientists have relied on supernovae to serve as mile markers on the highways of space. These exploded stars can be measured for brightness, which provides an estimate of their physical distance.

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Google’s Abandoned Library Of 700 Million Titles

From Epicenter:

Imagine a world where Google sucks.

It might seem a stretch. The Google logo is practically an icon of functionality. Google’s search engine and other tools are the company’s strongest, if unstated, argument in favor of the Google Books Settlement, which would give the internet the largest and most comprehensive library in history, at the cost of granting Google a de facto monopoly. It’s hard to imagine any company better equipped to scan, catalog and index millions of books than Google.

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Chemical In Sperm 'May Slow Ageing Process'

The secret of eternal youth? Photo: GETTY/AFP

From The Telegraph:

Researchers in Austria say that human sperm might be the next weapon in the fight against ageing.

A new study by scientists at Graz University found that spermidine, a compound that is found in sperm, slows ageing processes and increases longevity in yeast, flies, worms and mice, as well as human blood cells, by protecting cells from damage.

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Taking The Pill For Last 40 Years 'Has Put Women Off Masculine Men'

From The Daily Mail:

It ushered in the 1960s sexual revolution and gave women control over their own fertility.

But according to a new study, the Pill may also have changed women's taste in men.

Scientists say the hormones in the oral contraceptive suppress a female's interest in masculine men - and make boyish men more attractive.

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Military Robots To Get A Virtual Touch

Photo: The Packbot Explorer

From Technology Review:

A modified game controller will give military bomb-disposal experts remote touch.

iRobot, the company that makes military robots as well as the Roomba vacuuming bot, announced last Friday that it will receive funding for several endeavors from the Robotics Technology Consortium (RTC).

One project will see the company develop controllers that give remote robot operators sensory feedback. The US military currently uses iRobot's wheeled PackBot in Iraq and Afghanistan for tasks such as bomb disposal, detecting hazardous materials and carrying equipment.

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Why Minds Are Not Like Computers

From The New Atlantis:

People who believe that the mind can be replicated on a computer tend to explain the mind in terms of a computer. When theorizing about the mind, especially to outsiders but also to one another, defenders of artificial intelligence (AI) often rely on computational concepts. They regularly describe the mind and brain as the “software and hardware” of thinking, the mind as a “pattern” and the brain as a “substrate,” senses as “inputs” and behaviors as “outputs,” neurons as “processing units” and synapses as “circuitry,” to give just a few common examples.

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Russia Plots Return To Venus

The Venera missions produced tantalising images of the Venusian surface.

From The BBC:

Densely clouded in acid-laden mist, Venus used to be the Soviet Union's favourite target for planetary exploration.

Now, after a lull of almost three decades, Russia is making plans for a new mission to the "morning star" and has invited Western scientists to participate.

Last week, Moscow-based space research institute IKI hosted an international conference aimed at luring scientists from Europe and possibly other countries such as the US into the ambitious project, officially scheduled for launch in 2016.

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Studies Suggest South Coast Of South Africa Birthplace Of Modern Humans

Stratigraphic layers visible in this lower section of the PP5-6 archaeological site at Pinnacle Point, Mossel Bay, date to 79,000 to 86,000 years ago. Credit: Photo by Simen Oestmo/South African Coast Paleoclimate, Paleoenvironment, Paleoecology, Paleoanthropology Project (SACP4)

From Science In Africa:

Studies published in the journal Science reports that early modern humans living 72 000 years ago along the south coast of South Africa used fire to improve the quality and efficiency of their stone tool manufacturing. This research provides further evidence that this area may have been the origin location for the lineage that leads to all modern humans, which appeared between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago in Africa.

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18th Century Ships' Logs Predict Future Weather Forecast

Dr Dennis Wheeler launches the new project at HMS Trincomalee based at Hartlepool Marina. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Sunderland)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Oct. 6, 2009) — One hundred and fifty years ago, Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species revolutionised how we view the natural world. Now his voyages on HMS Beagle are influencing modern research on the evolution of our climate.

A ground-breaking partnership between JISC, the University of Sunderland, the Met Office Hadley Centre and the British Atmospheric Data Centre sees historical naval logbooks being used for the first time in research into climate change. The logbooks include famous voyages such as the Beagle, Cook’s HMS Discovery and Parry’s polar expedition in HMS Hecla.

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Does Taste Decrease With Age?

From Live Science:

This Week’s Question: I have a bet with a friend that you start losing your sense of taste as you get older. She says that her taste is as strong as ever and thinks I’m wrong. Who wins the bet?

In general, sensitivity to taste gradually decreases with age. But there are some whose taste isn’t affected by getting older. Who wins the bet? I won’t touch that one.

The ability to taste food and beverages means a lot to seniors. Let’s face it; we lose a lot of the pleasures of our youth, but eating well isn’t usually one of them.

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Abruptly Forgotten: Working Memory Disappears In A Blink

From Scientific American:

Certain memories die suddenly rather than fading away.

When you go from bed to bathroom on a dark night, a quick flick of the lights will leave a lingering impression on your mind’s eye. For decades evidence suggested that such visual working memories—which, even in daylight, connect the dots to create a complete scene as the eyes dart around rapidly—fade gradually over the span of several seconds. But a clever new study reported in the journal Psychological Science finds that such memories actually stay sharp until they are suddenly lost.

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Nobel Prizes For Chemistry Awarded -- News Roundup

From left, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England; Thomas A. Steitz of Yale University; and Ada E. Yonath of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel will share the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Reuters

Three Win Nobel For Ribosome Research -- New York Times

Three researchers whose work delves into how information encoded on strands of DNA is translated by the chemical complexes known as ribosomes into the thousands of proteins that make up living matter will share the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Swedish Academy of Sciences said Wednesday.

The trio are Venkatraman Ramakrishnan of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England; Thomas A. Steitz of Yale University; and Ada E. Yonath of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. Each scientist will get a third of the prize, worth 10 million Swedish kronors in total, or $1.4 million, in a ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10.

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More News On the Nobel Prize For Chemistry

Trio wins chemistry Nobel for solving ribosome riddle -- Reuters
2 Americans, Israeli share Nobel Prize in chemistry -- L.A. Times
Ada Yonath: first Israeli woman to win a Nobel -- AFP
US duo, Israeli win Nobel Chemistry Prize -- AFP
3 Scientists Share Nobel Chemistry Prize for DNA Work -- Voice of America
2 Americans, 1 Israeli win Nobel chemistry prize -- AP
Cambridge chemist wins Nobel prize for showing how proteins are made in cells -- The Guardian
Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded for ribosome research -- Science News
X-ray crystallography at the heart of the 2009 Nobel chemistry prize -- Physics Today
Nobel Prize In Chemistry: What Ribosomes Look Like And How They Functions At Atomic Level -- Science Daily
Unraveling the Ribosome: Chemistry Nobel Awarded to Modelers of Cells' Protein-Maker -- Scientific American
FACTBOX: Nobel chemistry prize - Who are the winners? -- Reuters
List of recent Nobel Prize in chemistry winners -- AP

Flying Feline, Hidden Kitten: The Fur Flies In Amazing 'Ninja' Cat Fight

Take that: This frame catches the two pals getting to grips mid-air

From The Daily Mail:

Leaping through the air, claws outstretched these cats appear locked in mortal combat.

But rather than a deathly duel over a mouse or territory, this acrobatic pair are simply play-fighting.

Dubbed the 'ninja cats' after the Japanese feudal warriors, the sparring pair are in fact Muffi and his friend Tiger.

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Discovery Sheds New Light On Stonehenge

Members of a British archaeological team stand in newly discovered holes that once held the stones of a circular monument connected to Stonehenge by an avenue. It may have served as a crematory. (Aerial-Cam)

From The L.A. Times:

Archaeologists say the remains of another large henge near the River Avon offer clues to the building of Stonehenge and the significance of the river. They had sought the telltale holes for years.

British archaeologists have found the remains of a massive stone henge, or ceremonial circle, that was part of the ancient and celebrated Stonehenge complex, a find that is shedding new light on how the monument was built and its religious uses.

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Is The Arctic Ready To Give Up Its Treasures?

The icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnicov in pack ice off Canada Photo: Daisy Gilardini

From The Telegraph:

Global warming could reveal lucrative reserves of untapped oil, gas and precious metals beneath the ice caps in the near future - but at what environmental cost?

For all the talk among world leaders of the perils of climate change, many are scenting an opportunity. As the Arctic ice retreats, surrounding nations are looking to plunder those natural resources under the surface, estimated by the US Geological Survey to constitute as much as 13 per cent of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30 per cent of its undiscovered natural gas – as well as precious metals including iron ore, gold, zinc and nickel.

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